1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rinsable, foaming, cleansing composition comprising at least one hydrophobic silica and at least one oxyalkylenated compound, and to the use of the composition, in particular, in cosmetics as cleansing products or make-up removing products for the skin, the eyes, the scalp and/or the hair, and for treating greasy skin and/or for disinfecting the skin and/or the scalp.
2. Description of the Background
Cleansing the skin is very important in the care of the face. It must be as efficient as possible since greasy residues, such as excess sebum, the remnants of cosmetic products used daily and make-up products accumulate in the folds of the skin and can block the pores of the skin and result in the appearance of spots.
One means of cleansing the skin properly is to use foaming cleansing products. The foaming cleansing products that are currently commercially available are in the form of foaming bars, gels or creams, and they may or may not contain soaps (fatty acid salts). Soap-containing foaming products have the advantage of giving a creamy lather; however, certain consumers find fault with these products because they cause tautness of the skin because of their excessive detergency. To have a product which is better tolerated by the skin, a desired objective in cleanser formulation is to reduce the soap content of the composition. However, the resulting products then have insufficient viscosity.
Moreover, soap-free foaming products are generally well tolerated by the skin. However, they are generally in the form of liquid products or relatively fluid gels. In order to thicken soap-free foaming products, it is known practice to add thickeners thereto such as alkyl- or acyl-oxyethylenated compounds, polysaccharides such as cellulose derivatives, guar gums and its derivatives, and acrylic polymers. However, in order to increase the viscosity of soap-free foaming products, thereby obtaining products of thick texture, it is necessary to incorporate a large amount of these thickeners into the products. However, when the percentage of alkyl- or acyl-oxyethylenated compounds, such as oxyethylenated alkylglucose esters of which examples include PEG-120 methylglucose dioleate and ceteareth-60 myristyl glycol which are conventionally used, is increased, a formulation is obtained which does not spread uniformly when applied to the skin because it spreads in blobs, which renders these compositions unacceptable to the user. In addition, it is then difficult for lather to develop. Furthermore, it is not possible to increase the percentage of these thickeners indefinitely, because they exceed their solubility limits in the medium.
In addition, when the percentage of cellulose gum, guar gum or acrylic polymer is increased, a product is obtained which exhibits mediocre initial foaming characteristics and which, because the product results in the formation of film-forming deposits that are often difficult to remove by rinsing, give a sensation of poorly cleansed skin.
Thus, there is still a need for foaming cleansing products which are rinsable and thick, but which nevertheless retain the properties required for foaming products, namely good mixing with water, rapid transformation into a lather, good rinsing and good tolerability, in particular, in the case of soap-containing foaming products.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a foaming cleansing composition which is rinsable and thick, and which retains the properties required for foaming products, which are good mixing with water, rapid transformation into a lather, good rinsing and good tolerability, in particular, in the case of soap-containing foaming products.
Briefly, this object and other objects of the present invention as hereinafter will become more readily apparent can be attained by a cleansing composition, comprising:
(1) at least one foaming surfactant, (2) at least one hydrophobic silica and (3) at least one oxyalkylenated compound in a physiologically acceptable aqueous medium comprising at least 35% by weight of water relative to the total weight of the composition.